Caribbean – Women & Sports!

Road to London 2012!

Antigua & Barbuda

Did you know- Toward the end of the 1990s, Heather Samuel was one of the country’s best athletes when she finished seventh in the women’s 200m (23.88 seconds) in the Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Canada. In the early 1980s, at the World Cup, Jocelyn Joseph participated in the team of the Americas, a continental team. Joseph is considered as the most remarkable national sportswoman of all time.

Barbados

Did you know- At the 1999 Pan American Games, Andrea Blackett came in second place in the 400m hurdles.

Dominican Republic

Did you know- During the years from 1982 to 2010, the women’s volleyball squad of the Dominican Republic has moved from being one of the three best Caribbean teams to being one of the world’s three best national teams, ahead of many Latin American and Asian nations, among them Peru, South Korea, Japan, Argentina, and Mexico. By the early 80s, the country – where baseball and basketball are predominant sports-captured the bronze medal for placing third in women’s volleyball at the Central American and Caribbean Games. For this reason, they failed to qualify for the Pan American Games in Caracas, Venezuela, in 1983. Two decades later, by 2003, the Dominican team, the host country’s team, took first place in women’s volleyball at the Pan American Games in Santo Domingo. In the gold-medal game, the Island beat Cuba 3-2. Later on, by 2009, the national squad was runner-up at the FIVB Under-20 World Championship. They should contend for gold in the London Olympic Games in 2012.

Grenada

Did you know- By 1989, Grenada’s Jacinta Bartholomew set a national record of 6,62 m in the long jump.

Jamaica

Did you know- Between July 28 and August 12, 1984, Jamaica sent 14 female athletes, led by its young star Marlene Ottey-Page, to Los Angeles (California, U.S.) to compete in the Games of the XXIII Olympiad. Curiously this delegation was the fourth-largest female team in Latin America, after Brazil (23), Mexico (20), and Peru (18).

Saint Lucia

Did you know- Toward the end of the 2000s, the Island’s athlete Levern Spencer had been named by the National Olympic Committee as the flag bearer of the national delegation for the 29th Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. Her selection was based on her international reputation. At the 2007 World Championships in Osaka (Japan), Miss Spencer was one of the world’s 15 best high jumpers. No other Olympic athlete in Saint Lucia, an English-speaking country, has ever matched Spencer’s performance.

Trinidad & Tobago

Did you know- By 1986, the Trinidadian team won the gold in women’s hockey at the Central American and Caribbean Games in the Dominican Republic. Four years later, they captured the bronze medal in the Caribbean Games in Mexico City.